Hippophae Rhamnoides (Sea Buckthorn)

The ultimate coastal plant! This semi deciduous, hardy, suckering plant has deep roots and is drought and salt tolerant. The leaves are silvery green-grey and female plants yield clusters of orange berries. Excellent for hedging, quite spiny and can reach 4metres in height.

Tolerant of full sun and wind, best in deep sandy loam. Native to N. Europe and Asia. Fruits used widely for cosmetics, contain vitamins C, E, B12 and ancient Greeks used it as fodder to give horses glossy coats. Hippo = horse and Phae = shiny.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.